Poseidon Aerospace has raised $60 million in funding ahead of a major milestone: its first test flight of a pilotless cargo aircraft. The funding will support the company's efforts to develop and test autonomous cargo operations.

The startup's core mission is to reshape the economics of cargo aviation by removing pilots from aircraft entirely. This approach could potentially reduce operating costs and change how cargo is transported by air, though the company still faces the technical and regulatory hurdles of operating crewed aircraft without human pilots in the cockpit.